This month’s Mason Music Student Spotlight is Lila Gordon, a 9th grade guitar and voice student at our Bluff Park Studio.
“I loved music from a very young age,” explains Lila. “I loved to dance and I started taking musical theatre lessons at a local musical theatre school. Piano lessons were recommend at the theatre school so I did that for a little bit, but I really wanted a guitar so I got one for Christmas in 2017. I taught myself with YouTube for the first year and my parents put me in guitar lessons the following year. I loved it more than piano, so I dropped piano and concentrated on guitar. I have been taking guitar since January 2018, so that’s almost 5 years now. I started lessons in North Carolina and transferred to Mason Music in 2019 when we moved to Alabama. I have also been in voice lessons since I was 8. I like taking guitar and voice lessons at Mason Music because it has a nice laid back and welcoming atmosphere.
I have two teachers, Collin Zuckerman for guitar and Ben Salters for voice. My favorite thing about Collin is that he has similar taste in music to me so it’s fun to select songs to learn with him. I like all kinds of music but my favorite is indie/alternative. Collin is also a great musician that I look up to and he challenges me to play things I didn’t know I could. I have improved so much with Collin and gained so much more knowledge about music in general. I started voice lessons at Mason Music with Lynley Evans who I just loved, but sadly she had to move away. I just began lessons with Ben Salters a couple weeks ago and so far I am having a great time. We share a love for musical theatre and he is currently helping me with an upcoming audition. I’m working on several pieces: “Many a New Day” from Oklahoma, “Se tu m’ami, se sospirie,” by Giovanni Battista Pergoiesi, and “Much More” from The Fantasticks. In guitar, I’m focusing on theory right now.
My advice to students who may find it hard to practice would be to always have your instrument and music out and in a place that you hang out the most. Your instrument is your friend so don’t leave it in a sad corner; have it out so you can practice 5 to 10 minutes here and there. It can be hard to get the time in especially if you are in high school, so if you can’t practice every day, you can do longer practices on weekends.
I am in the theatre department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts so most of my after-school time is spent in training and preparing for productions. I took dance lessons for many years, but I am taking a break this year because I don’t have enough time in my schedule. I hope I can resume dance lessons in the future. One interesting thing not many people know about me is that I took Irish Dance for several years when I lived in North Carolina.”
Read more music news on the Mason Music Blog.
